Growing Up
by Werewolf not a goldenretriever
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto have spent nearly their whole lives together, this shows some insight on what experiences they've had together. Sasunaru, Narusasu, AU.


5 Years:

They met when they were young and Sasuke and his brother had moved into a house down the street from Naruto and Jiraiya's apartment. They were instant friends. They enjoyed a couple of the same tv shows and both liked playing tag. What more did a five year old need?

10 Years:

Apparently, they didn't need anything more to be friends, because here they were, five years later, still best friends. At this point the had practically grown up together- they went to the same school and ended up in the same class every year. They always sat beside each other, and very rarely would you see either Sasuke or Naruto without the other. They were inseparable.

Naruto's guardian Jiraiya would often come home drunk and pass out on the floor or the couch, hardly ever actually making it to his room. Naruto had taken it upon himself to take care of his guardian instead of the their way around. He knew that most kids didn't have to take care of their parents, but he was a special case. Plus, Jiraiya was always kind to him. He taught the blond how to ride a bike and how to cook (despite the fact that other than the original lesson or two Naruto doesn't think he's actually ever seen Jiraiya cook.)

Naruto felt like he owed the man. So, whenever he got home Naruto placed a blanket over him and moved the alarm clock set to the time Jiraiya had to get up to work beside him. He left the man with a glass of water and a couple aspirin for the morning.

On the other hand, where Naruto had been taking care of himself and his guardian, Sasuke had simply been taking care of himself. Itachi wasn't a bad person per say, he was just around so rarely that Sasuke hardly ever saw him. Itachi worked long and odd hours and spent the rest of his time with his friends and many partners of different genders.

Sasuke didn't really mind. It gave him the freedom to do what he wanted, and he could make simple things with the stove and oven so it wasn't like he was going to starve. Itachi had given him a credit card at the juvenile age of eight and told him simply to "not go overboard" with his purchases. The elder seemed to recognise that he wasn't around enough to really take care of his little brother and had given him the tools he needed to do so himself. At first, Sasuke had gone a little overboard with the card, buying a bunch of toys and things he didn't need. Itachi had let a note on the counter the day after the bill came in.

 _Now that you've had your fun with the money card can you chill a little? Got the bill. I've decided three gaming systems and five games to go with each is enough for now. Try just getting things you_ _need_ _and a treat once in a while okay? Okay._

That had been the extent of the scolding for that. Sasuke had calmed down after that and taken his brother's advice. Though after that little stunt he now had a lot of games to burn through, giving him an excuse to have Naruto over almost everyday after school and on the weekends.

Naruto had started grocery shopping with him, using the money Jiraiya started leaving on the counter when he was ten. It was probably an odd sight. Two ten year old boys shopping together like grown-ups every week with money that ten year olds didn't generally have access to. Naruto always bought enough to feed two as he more often than not made Jiraiya's food as well and stuck it in the fridge for when the drunk got home. Sasuke shopped only for himself, knowing Itachi would get himself something wherever he was at the point.

They grew up fast, but they did it together, leaning on each other when they needed support, and learning how to function in the world without the adults that most kids leaned on. Sasuke was twelve when Itachi left him another important note on the counter.

 _Moving out. Not paying for a whole house for just you- you're moving into the apartment building down the street floor 7, #715. Have to be out of the house in three weeks. Have fun, don't tell your teachers I'm not living with you, I'll pay the bills, ect, ect. Love, Itachi._

It was obviously quickly written with little care but Sasuke couldn't bring himself to mind. He didn't really know how he felt about this. He had basically been on his own for quite a while, so this wouldn't be too much of a difference, right? He just needed to get his stuff out. Naruto could help him.

And Naruto did help him. As they were moving the smaller things- they would figure out the furniture later- they both seemed happy to be moving closer to one another even though they were only a five minute walk before. It was a good time. They ended up spending even more of their time at one another's places, taking turns making dinner, sometimes cooking together, always cooking for three (or six if they planned on having leftovers the next day) and basically making a life for themselves in the two apartments.

Naruto was thirteen when Jiraiya came home sober on a wednesday night. "Naruto, I need to talk to you," was his introduction to the topic. "You know the lady I've been seeing? Tsunade? I know I don't bring her around much, didn't want to make you uncomfortable. She's moving. And I'm going with her," Naruto was slightly panicking at this point. He couldn't move! This was where he belonged! Jiraiya continued before Naruto could protest.

"I know I haven't really been doing much for you since you were little, and I'm sorry for that, I really am. But I think I'm about to do something good for you, for once. You are staying here. I'll give you my number, and I'll pay the bills, you can even have a credit card, since I won't be here to give you the money you need. But you've been taking care of both of us for a while now. I'm going to let you just take care of yourself. You can call me if you ever need to talk or if you need something, and we'll stay in contact but you'll be on your own."

Naruto was shocked. And pleased. This would make cleaning up a lot easier around the place, and while it might be quieter than he was used to, he always had Sasuke to keep him company. He smiled.

"I'm guessing you don't want me to tell the school that you're doing this?" the younger asked with a raised eyebrow. Jiraiya laughed.

"You got it kiddo, you know how to forge my signature. Just don't get yourself into too much trouble okay? You can't forge a parent-teacher confrence."

15 Years:

Naruto and Sasuke sat at the back of the class with Naruto scribbling down English notes as Iruka spoke and Sasuke squinted at the board.

"Naruto." Sasuke whispered, tapping his friend on the shoulder.

"Sasuke you know I need to pay attention, I almost failed the last test." It took nearly all of the blond's willpower to keep writing instead of paying attention to his best friend. Especially in English.

"I know, but I can't see the board. what does it say?" The raven whispered harshly, annoyed with himself for not being able to read something that the dobe could.

"What do you mean you can't see it? Iruka's writing is pretty big. You're just trying to distract me!" He whisper-yelled as he started to lose focus on his work.

"His handwriting is messy! And it's far away!" the elder defended. Naruto gave him a look and continued writing.

Sasuke had long given up on copying from the board and was now leaned over trying to read Naruto's illegible writing. Oddly enough it sort of just looked like a big blurry blob of white and orange; which was the colour pen Naruto was using. Sasuke sighed. This was going to be a long class.

"Is this necessary?" Naruto asked as Sasuke looked over his English notes.

"Yes. I wasn't kidding when I said I couldn't see anything in class. It was too far away."

"Sasuke, it's the same spot we've been sitting all year and it's crystal clear to me."

"Yeah but you have eyes like a rabbit." The raven argued, still squinting at the notes in front of him.

"Maybe your eyesight just sucks. You should get glasses."

"I don't need glasses." The elder replied stubbornly.

"I bet you do," the taller of the two argued.

"No way! I'll prove it to you! Come with me to the optometrist's and I'll show you."

Sasuke now sat in the waiting room of the optometrist's office with Naruto at his side, playing a game on his phone.

It had been difficult for Sasuke to get an appointment. He had been living on his own for a while now as his 'guardian' Itachi had moved out and his family's money paid the rent. Naruto was in a similar situation.

That being said, neither of the two knew how to use a health care plan to book an appointment. There were names- which Sasuke hadn't expected and automatically gave his brother's, assuming he was the one that used the plan, and confused the poor desk lady- phone numbers- which Sasuke didn't know as apparently he _did_ need his brother's for this- and people asking about past doctors. Which Sasuke hadn't been to since he was about five. But after the long and tiring process he had finally managed to book an appointment. He was missing school for it and Naruto was skipping for moral support (and to prove that Sasuke needed glasses but that was beside the point).

"Sasuke Uchiha," a female voice sounded from behind the corner, with her head poking out at the wall.

Sasuke stood. "Are you coming dobe?" Sasuke asked when he noticed the blond wasn't following him.

"Huh? You want me to?"

"Well I've never been to any type of doctor before, I don't know- maybe." Naruto heard the pleading tone in his friend's voice as he looked toward the room that the doctor had just disappeared into.

Naruto got up and followed Sasuke into the room.

The optometrist- Shizune as they soon figured out- had Sasuke sit in a chair similar to the ones in a dentist's office, (which Sasuke remembered from when he was four; though it seemed a far bit smaller. Then again, he was four).

"First, I'd like you to read what you can from that chart." Shizune said as she dimmed the lights and turned on a projector displaying a chart with a pyramid of letters that grew smaller as it went down. Sasuke opened his mouth to speak right when Shizune stepped in front of him, placing a heavy-looking thing with several lenses on it in front of Sasuke's face. He looked confused for a second until he was instructed to put his head against a curve of it obviously designed for a forehead to go. She played with the lenses a little before instructing the Uchiha to read.

"E, F P, T O Z, L P E D, P- I think. That's a P right? C," Naruto had glanced at the chart from the side of the room and saw that Sasuke had started struggling on the fourth row and that the letter was not, in fact, a C but an E. From his point of view he could easily make out every row of letters right down to the bottom line, line seven.

It was at this point the she changed the lenses and asked him to do it again. This time he could only get to the third row. She changed the lense a few times, letting Sasuke read the chart each time until he could just make out the bottom line.

Shizune nodded her head and made a note then proceeded to change the lense a few more times asking which one seemed better. This went on for a few minutes until she took a step back, made a note and pulled the contraption away from the raven's face, pulling out a pamphlet from a desk drawer and asking Sasuke to read that. He had no problem.

The optometrist once again jotted something down and turned back to the boys who were now bickering.

"I bet you need glasses." The blond stated smugly.

"I do not! I could read that pamphlet perfectly fine!"

"And what about the chart?"

"She probably started with a lense to make sure I wasn't one of those kids who come in and say they have bad eyesight so they can get glasses."

"Uh- huh. _Sure._ " Naruto rolled his eyes, not letting the smirk slip from his face. They both turned their heads at the sound of a throat being cleared.

"Sasuke, here's your prescription. Give it to the front desk and you can pick out some frames in the other room." She said, obviously annoyed with the two. They hurried out of the room as a fuming Sasuke wanted to get out- immediately- and a gloating Naruto laughed behind him.

Sasuke had picked up a pair of frames at random and was about to select them when Naruto pointed out that maybe he should choose wisely and tried to calm him down. Needless to say they spent about an hour arguing over frames.

"It's _my_ face!"

"Well, _I'm_ the one looking at it!" and so on. eventually they had found a pair they both liked and gave the code for them to the front desk along with the crumpled prescription.

They told Sasuke they would contact him when the glasses were ready and that he could leave at that point.

The next week Sasuke came to school wearing small glasses with thin, rectangular frames and was surprised when he could read the board in English. And was not surprised by all the attention he got.

"Sasuke-kun! When did you get glasses?" Sakura had exclaimed, almost making him think that there was a possibility that she would cause him to get impaired hearing as well as sight and he would need to get that checked too.

"They look _hot_ on you!" Ino had followed up, clinging to his arm as Sasuke tried his best to shake her off.

"Oh! Dude! can I try those on? Shino won't let me try his!" Kiba had nearly yelled, trying to grab the glasses from his face.

"So troublesome." Shikamaru had complained about all the added noise at their lunch table.

And so on. Naruto had to admit, he agreed with Ino-not that he would ever voice that but still true.

The blond felt a strange twinge of jealousy seeing Ino and Sakura hanging off of Sasuke's arm and found that, rather than wanting to take the raven's place, he would rather take the girl's. Odd.

17 Years:

Sasuke was lounging on Naruto's bed, waiting for the blond to come back from the kitchen. They had decided (Naruto had decided) that it was time they had a Bad Movie Marathon; featuring movies such as Sharknado 1-4, Zombieland, Battlefield Earth, and Deathbed; the Bed that Eats. The list was quite a bit longer than that and they were on their twelfth hour of awful movies when they decided that more popcorn was required to stomach the cringy-ness of the bad acting and worse scripts.

When Naruto reentered the room with a full bowl of popcorn wearing a white sweatshirt and orange boxers Sasuke couldn't help but stare. The other sat next to him, shoulders and legs brushing against the others' as he got comfortable and rested the popcorn on both of their outstretched thighs. Sasuke had borrowed a navy sweater from Naruto that was slightly too big due to the other's bigger build. He had opted to keep his gray track pants on.

Naruto shoved a handful of popcorn in his mouth with one hand while pressing play on their eighth Bad Movie with the other. Sasuke took a handful to eat one popped kernel at a time. It was halfway through the flick about a psychic tire that blew up animals and people that Sasuke found himself unable to pay attention. Naruto had started to slightly lean against Sasuke, keeping his head up but pressing the rest of his left side to Sasuke's right. The empty popcorn bowl still sat on their legs, their hips pressed together at the side. Naruto stared intently at the screen, seemingly completely wrapped up in the life of the homicidal sentient tire.

Sasuke looked down to where his hand was resting on his leg and-ever so casually- inched it to the right to rest on Naruto's. Naruto's eyes flicked to him for a brief moment while Sasuke kept his gaze on the television screen. Neither could seem to help the blush rising on their faces. Naruto moved the popcorn bowl to his right side and turned to look at Sasuke, who looked at him back.

Thy held each other's gaze for a few seconds, eyes flicking between the other's eyes and lips before both, ever so slowly leaned forward.

The kiss was slow, light. Hardly a brush of lips. But as they both pulled back they saw the wonder in the other's eyes and leaned forward yet again, desperate and hungry. Naruto's hands grasped pitch dark hair, Sasuke's arms circled Naruto's waist and pulled him closer, needing to be closer to him. He pushed the white-clad other down, following him and not breaking the kiss.

Naruto's hands circled around to Sasuke's chest and gave a slight push away, enough to separate them only by and inch or two.

"Do you really want this?" The blond whispered, afraid speaking any louder might break the unspoken bond they had created in this moment.

"Yes. I want this. I want you. Not just this. I want everything about you." The raven bent to kiss the other's hardly exposed collarbone. "Your smile," he continued, pressing a kiss to his shoulder, done by pushing the fabric an inch off of tanned skin."Your laugh," a kiss to his neck. "The way your eyes light up when you speak," lips pressed to his jawline. "Everything about you," he repeated, pressing his lips to the spot just under Naruto's earlobe and pulling away to look him in the eyes, asking permission.

Naruto's face was flushed for more than one reason as he looked at the sincerity on Sasuke's face hovering above him. "I want you too. All of you."

20 Years:

They had ended up going to the same university for different practices and both Naruto and Sasuke were in the second year of their respective programs. Naruto was fiddling with the promise ring on his finger while sitting in the lecture hall beside one of his friends. It was the last class of the day and there was five minutes left until he could leave. Normally, he wouldn't be so antsy about it, but Sasuke had just gotten back from a school-funded trip across the country for some reason or another and it was the first time that they would really be able to spend time together since he got back.

When they were dismissed Naruto bid a quick goodbye to his friend before practically running out of the room to meet Sasuke at their shared apartment down the street. Sasuke had finished his classes an hour earlier that day. He hopped on his bike and pedalled home quickly, standing on the pedals as he rode. He practically tossed his bike aside with the lock on the rack by their apartment he sped inside, catching his breath impatiently on the elevator ride to the ninth floor.

He didn't _run_ to the apartment per say, but he certainly wasn't going a speed that could be considered walking either. Throwing the door open he was greeted by the sight of his wonderful boyfriend making some sort of stir-fry from Naruto's leftovers in the fridge. Sasuke didn't acknowledge him at first, attention on the frying pan in front him, but he did lean back into Naruto's sudden embrace with a smile and contented sigh.

"Hi, babe," the blond greeted. Sasuke hummed in response, used to Naruto's pet names. He had missed Naruto while he was away. Missed their routine, the way they could move around each other when accomplishing something, comfortable and well rehearsed in a way that wouldn't be the same with anyone else. He had missed his partner's warmth just as Naruto had missed his cool touch. Though now that they were back together, it felt like they had never been apart.

Naruto pressed soft kisses up Sasuke's neck, arms wound around his waist as Sasuke struggled to keep his attention on the stove and not his boyfriend's beautiful presence behind him.

"You know what I think?" Naruto started, not releasing his hold on his boyfriend.

"What?"

"I think we should have a spring wedding." Sasuke wasn't taken off guard by this. They would occasionally talk small details about their wedding, never really in full seriousness, but never really kidding either. So far they had decided nothing but the fact that it was happening some day. That was a decision that was made when Sasuke bought the promise ring to give to Naruto for their high school graduation. They had been wearing matching ones ever since.

"Spring's always so rainy. There's no way we'll have enough luck to get a nice day." Sasuke argued, a smirk on a his face

Naruto tilted his head a little. "I guess that's true. Summer would be too hot. What about fall?"

Sasuke hummed. "That sounds perfect."

"Okay. Let's do it." This through Sasuke off a little. Did they just make a real decision?

"Huh?" He replied smartly.

"Let's do it. This fall. Let's get married." Naruto spun sasuke around by the waist to face him. "I don't wanna wait anymore. Let's get married this fall."

Sasuke stared at Naruto's hopeful and excited face. "Naruto, how are we gonna afford that? We need to get a place, a minister, food, tuxedos, invitations, flowers- do we need flowers? I've never liked them- what about a dj for the reception thing?"

"We can do it! I know a place that has nice tuxedos that don't cost a fortune, we can rent out a party hall somewhere and just do the ceremony there, get one of our friends ordained. It doesn't have to be a huge place, neither of us have a lot of people to invite, it'll be like, eighty people tops right? We don't need fancy invitations- we can send out e-vites! And no, we don't need flowers- I don't want you sneezing the entire time," Naruto's face was lit up with the thought of being married to his best friend.

Sasuke's mind was racing. Getting married? They were still going to be in university! But as he thought about it, he couldn't imagine putting it off further. A smile bloomed in place of his worry as he nodded, and even before he had finished the head movement, Naruto had kissed him and picked him up to swing around the kitchen.

"We're getting married!" The blond exclaimed to the world. Sasuke wouldn't be surprised if a few of their neighbors told them to shut up. Yet, he couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed with his excited fiance. Fiance. That was a nice word. "We're getting married!" Naruto said, closer to a normal volume, wonder in his voice as he placed Sasuke down in front of him. "We're getting married," he whispered, hardly loud enough for Sasuke to hear and they pressed their foreheads together, switching to a happy kiss, both unable to stop smiling enough to make it a proper one.

"We're getting married," Sasuke repeated, loving how the words felt on his tongue.


End file.
